Heterotic: Weird Drift (Planet Mu, 2014)
April 19, 2014 at 6:03 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Heterotic: Weird Drift
Second album from Mike “µ-Ziq” Paradinas and his wife, following last year’s
Love & Devotion, which featured vocals by Nick Talbot of Gravenhurst. I wasn’t feeling the preview clips of that album, but this album seems a lot more interesting. The synth sounds and melodies certainly sound like what Mike Paradinas’ vision of “pop” would sound like. The tracks with vocals feature Vezelay, who released an EP on Planet Mu back in 2011 that I don’t think I’ve actually listened to. They fit in with a lot of current indie-electro-R&B type stuff that’s everywhere right now, but musically, there’s some interesting things going on. The ultra-skittery beats on “Boxes” definitely sound in line with the last µ-Ziq record, and the slow, distorted beats on “Lumber” are reminiscent of the excellent
XTEP from last year, as well as plenty of Paradinas’ older output. More than half the tracks feature vocals, but with a couple interlude-y exceptions, the instrumentals are as fully-focused and melodic, especially the Italo-esque opener “Self-Importance”, and “Sultana”, which sounds like it could almost be an instrumental version of an ’80s Fleetwood Mac single. “Amniotic” is another lovely little electro-shadow with fluttery percussion and an ’80s new wave melody. Definitely a promising step forward for Mike Paradinas’ most accessible project yet.
The Answer Is In The Beat 
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